Queenstown’s council will not be proposing a merger with other councils by a government-imposed deadline next month. However, it was evident at a public workshop this week councillors were wrestling with what to say to the government about the issue — if anything at all — before making a final decision on any formal response at their full meeting on August 3. Through its “Head Start” programme, the government invited all councils in New Zealand to make amalgamation proposals — with at least one other council — that would also take over the functions of the regional council for their combined areas. Councils that chose not to make proposals faced the prospect of a “backstop” reform process after the 2028 local body elections, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop said, telling councils to “lead your own reform or we will do it for you”. Queenstown Lakes District Mayor John Glover said there was no consensus among Otago mayors for a mega-merger of all the region’s councils. However, with the government planning to get rid of regional councils, there were opportunities for district councils to form partnerships to take over Otago Regional Council (ORC) functions that could potentially lead to amalgamations in the future. An impending regional deal between the Queenstown Lakes, Central Otago, Otago Regional councils and the government could also make amalgamation with Central Otago a “logical” outcome down the track. But the best way to achieve that was through a collaborative, consensus-building process rather than the government’s backstop process, he said. Although, the council could choose to make no response to the government before the August 9 deadline, Mr Glover favoured writing a letter explaining what it had done on the issue so far. “If there was a really easy answer [to Head Start], we would have landed on it. “And we haven’t. “It’d be better to say that we’ll work through a process over the next six months to see how it might work.” Speaking at Monday’s workshop, councillor Jon Mitchell said there was an opportunity to collaborate with other councils and “potentially work towards amalgamation over time”. “But if we do it now, it actually risks the whole regional deal.” Deputy mayor Quentin Smith said he was yet to see evidence suggesting amalgamation could benefit the district. “If we’re going to pursue change, it has to be something that’s demonstratively better.” The issue has not exactly caught fire with the district’s residents. Drop-in sessions hosted by councillors in Frankton, Arrowtown and Wānaka last week attracted a smattering of people, while an online discussion forum on the council’s website has drawn five responses to date. Mr Glover said unlike rural Otago councils with small populations who were worried about being “swamped” by bigger councils, Queenstown Lakes residents were more concerned about the area’s growth and debt challenges, and were confident the district could continue “going it alone”.
